I always say that we must evolve, or we will dissolve. In reference to climate change, this saying resonates particularly strong. After careful consideration of ample research on climate change and its effect on our current and future environment and our members lives and jobs, and consultation with TWU leaders, We sent a letter to all United States affiliates of the International Transport Federation (ITF) on July 26, 2010 in support of the work of the ITF Climate Change Working Group. The letter states that the TWU is a proud member of more than 60 ITF affiliates from around the world that supports Resolution 1 submitted to the 42nd Congress of the ITF.

In our letter we wrote that to protect our members and the planet we share, we must have the courage and vision to lead. Organized labor must join with other social movements in seizing the opportunity to make the changes climate science demands of our species. In short, we must evolve or dissolve.

We emphasized several major points in order to explain the TWU's support of Resolution 1. Read the summary below, or click here to download the complete letter sent to the ITF. Click here for Appendix B and here for Appendix A of the letter.

Summary of TWU's position on climate change:

1. Organized labor's survival requires, among other things, that we change as the world and the nature and the very definition of work change.
2. We must consider how we can address jobs affected by climate and technological changes.
3. The just demand for and inevitability of Greenhouse Gas (GHG) emission reduction must be approached as an opportunity to re-tool and re-engineer the economy and secure just futures for our members and organized labor.
4. We must begin to act now to save our planet and our movement. Because union members moving coal and oil are unlikely to be affected for many years to come, we have the opportunity to carry out our duty to protect jobs by engineering robust "just transition" policies that maintain income and benefits for the workers who will be transitioning to safer and more sustainable work.
5. Cutting emissions by reducing the level of unsustainable and low-wage transport will lead to more unionized jobs in freight and passenger rail, also in public mass transit, even assuming there is a reduction in the tonnage of coal transported by rail.
6. As organized labor confronts a near fatal decline in labor market density and in popularity among communities of working people, this dictates a need to preserve and build partnerships with other social movements. The movement to protect the environment is probably the greatest emerging popular front, well aligned with the interests of transport.
7. The massive public investments in public transport required to address both climate change and people's need for accessible and affordable transport will only occur if we push our countries and our movement to adopt an aggressive and science-based approach to emission reductions.
8. Climate change is a reality we must face and plan for. To do otherwise is to acquiesce in our future destruction to preserve our present comfort.

Read the full letter that was sent to the ITF here.